Despite a strong start by the Tigers, Kansas battled back to beat Missouri for their fourth straight Border War victory.
The 270th installation of the Border Showdown was as electric as expected. A sold-out Allen Fieldhouse was loud for the entirety of Saturday night. But also as expected, Kansas came out on top.
Although the Tigers put up a great fight, it wasn’t enough to overcome the No. 2 Jayhawks, as Missouri fell 73-64.
“It’s one of basketball’s great traditions and a great environment,” head coach Dennis Gates said. “[We had an] excellent, excellent gameplan, we just weren’t able to put the entire 40 minutes together.”
Unlike their last two matchups against Kansas, Missouri got off to a hot start through the first eight minutes of the game. Graduate Nick Honor, graduate Sean East II and junior Tamar Bates all converted from downtown, putting the Tigers up 15-6 at the under 12 timeout.
“I thought our guys played an unbelievable first half,” Gates said.
After the 12-minute mark, the scoring opened up tremendously with both teams going blow-for-blow. A dunk from Missouri graduate Noah Carter was followed up by Kansas graduate Kevin McCullar Jr. responding with a dunk of his own. A three-pointer from East was quickly followed up by Kansas graduate Nicolas Timberlake hitting a three of his own. Whatever punch the Tigers threw, Kansas seemed to have a counter.
The back-and-forth nature of the game could only last for so long, as the momentum swung completely in the Jayhawks’ favor with a little under six minutes remaining in the first half. Junior KJ Adams Jr. made a floater in the paint, which catalyzed a 20-2 Kansas run to end the first half. The Jayhawks came to life just as the Tigers began to fall apart, with the Tigers airballing three three-point shots as well fouling Kansas on two three-point attempts of their own.
“They scored and we didn’t,” Gates said. “The majority of their points were in the paint. We fouled some three-point shooters, which are things you can’t do on the road against anyone.”
The momentum stayed heavily in the favor of the Jayhawks to open the second half. Kansas star senior Hunter Dickinson, who scored just two points in the first half, began to take over the glass in the second half. The preseason All-American scored seven points and grabbed eight rebounds in the first eight minutes of the half, highlighted by an and-one finish following a thunderous KJ Adams Jr. chasedown block on Missouri freshman Anthony Robinson II. Dickinson would end the game with 13 points and 16 rebounds.
“Dickinson is one of college basketball’s best centers,” Gates said. “He had an excellent second half … he was just, at that point, being able to use his physicality.”
Around the nine-minute mark, graduate student Connor Vanover helped give Missouri their last bit of momentum in the game. He went on a 6-0 run by himself, cutting the deficit to 10. He would end the game with nine points, his second-most in a game this year.
“I thought his teammates challenged him in the right way,” Gates said. “Sean and Nick challenged Connor in the second half, and he was able to get it going.”
The stretch was followed by a basket from Honor to cut the lead to eight, which ended up being the closest Missouri would get to a comeback.
Both teams traded baskets throughout the final eight minutes of the half, but Kansas never lost control of the lead. The Jayhawks picked up their ninth win of the season, successfully adding to their all-time winning record over the Tigers. The tally now sits at 175-95 in favor of the Jayhawks.
East led the Tigers in scoring for the seventh time in 10 games this year with 21 points, shooting 8-for-15 from the field, including two three-pointers. Also scoring in double digits was Nick Honor, who scored 17 points on 50% shooting from three.
Edited by Quentin Corpuel | qcorpuel@themaneater.com
Copy edited by Grace Knight | gknight@themaneater.com